Severstal will dispute European Commission’s decision to impose duties on Russian steel

ST.PETERSBURG, June 16. /TASS/. Russia’s steelmaker Severstal will dispute the decision of the European Commission imposing duties on the Russian steel, the company’s CEO Alexey Mordashov said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel.

"We will try to find alternative markets but we will definitely dispute the decision of the European Commission. Unfortunately it is based not on the fact of non-cooperation with the Commission, which is very strange: we answered all the questions, we received the EU delegation, which arrived to our enterprise for verification. Accusation of non-cooperation is groundless," he said.

The official has also noted that Severstal forecasted steel prices to remain low for more than 5 years.

"We see prices start falling again after the rise at the end of the first quarter - beginning of the second quarter. We hope they will not drop too strongly and the cutoff level of $350 per tonne of hot-rolled coils will remain the low limit," Mordashov said.

"Volatility characteristic of the steel market will remain relevant for us in coming years by virtue of the low level of capacity utilization worldwide. More than five years or even a much longer period can be the case in point," he added.